Nietzsche, Rorty, and Foucault
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THE POETICS AND POLITICS OF SELF-CREATION: NIETZSCHE, RORTY, AND FOUCAULT David Carter B.A. (Honours) Queen's University, 1990 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR TIlE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Philosophy @ David Carter SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August, 1993 A11 rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. National Library Bibliotheque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Sewices Branch des services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue W-ellington Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (Ontario) KIA ON4 K!,4 ON4 The author has granted an L'aufteur a accord6 une licence irrevocable non-exeldve licence irrevocable et non exclusive allowing the National Library of permettant a la Biblioth&que Canada to reproduce, loan, nationaile du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, prBter, distribuer ou his/her thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or format, making de quelque rnaniere et sous this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce soit pour persons. rnettre dss exernplaires de cette these a la disposition des personnes interessees. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la proprietk du the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui protege sa Neither the thesis nor substantial these. Ni la these ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent Btre imprimes ou his/her permission. autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. ISBN 0-315-91277-4 APPROVAL NAME: David Carter DEGREE: Master of Arts (Philosophy) TITLE OF TI3ESIS: The Poetics and Politics of Self Creation: Nietzsche, Rorty, and Foucault EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chairperson: Dr. Martin Hahn Dr. Bjfirn Ramberg Senior Supervisor Dr. ~oH~ietz 6i':Bbn"ekie Strickling Department of Philosophy Vancouver Community College . ' P ' . i L[5\a%r; DATE APPROVED: c Li,v PARTiAt COPYRIGHT LICENSE 1 hereby grapt to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown helow) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request From the library of any other universi~y,or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. 1 further agree that perr~ission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood That copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay -------- Author: (s i gnature) (name) (date) ABSTRACT Nietzsche exhorts us to take responsibility for the historical contingencies from which we spring in our efforts to create ourselves. I explore the tension in Nietzsche's description of the subject as both produced by a web of historical contingencies and a potential creator of herself which drives his conception of self-creation. I also pursue ail account of the Nietzschean subject in the descriptions of the self and self-creation suggested by Richard Rorty and Michel Foucault. In Part 1 I show how the tension in Nietzsche's description of the subject as both the produced by the will to power and the potential creator of herself is resolved in his account of the free-spirited individual. I pay particular attention to the figure of Zarathustra as an exemplification of such a subject. In Part I1 I examine Rorty's account of a privatized version of Nietzschean self-creation and the grounding of that task in poetic redescription. I show, however, that Rorty's separation of a subject's life into private and public spheres of responsibility fails to take seriously enough ways in which we are produced by a social fabric. I suggest that Foucault's genealogical descriptions of the subject's production by power Ells in that part of the picture Rorty leaves out. Foucault's Nietzschean descriptions of the web of relations which produce the subject suggests roots, contra Rorty, for a politicized account of self-creation. Matt Selena Sadie Josh Jill Arnie and France My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wanrs nothing to be other than it is, not in the future, not in the past, not in all eternity. Not merely to endure that which happens of necessity, still less to dissemble it - all idealism is untruthfulness in the face of necessity - but to Iove it .... Friedrich Nietzsche Ecce Homo The hope of such a poet is that what the past tried to do to her she will succeed in doing to the past: to make the past itself, including those very causal processes which blindly impressed all her behavings, bear her impress. Richard Rorty "The contingency ~f seifhood" I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not at the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for a love relationship is mealso for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we don't know what will be the end. Michel Foucault Interview October 25, 1982 Tt positively delights me to offer my thanks to Selena, Matt, Sadie, Josh ~tild Jill for the home they have given me this past year. It has been a home filled with conversation and music and eating and laughter and warmth as well as writing. My thanks go out to Stu and Marcus and especially to Maria for the support of your conversation, commentary and friendship during the writing of this thesis. And to Mom and Dad - your genuine interest in this project always outshone your interest in its completion. Thank you. John Tietz's thorough commentary has helped f~irthermy views on Nietzsche as well as my appreciation of him. Bjprn Ramberg has taught me a great deal about Nietzsche and Rorty. His guidance in the art of practicing and writing philosophy has been both deeply appreciated and invaluable. And finally, my thanks to Frank and his good looking sons, Nick and Frank, ~t Calabria, for a place to work, their pleasant conversation and tine coffee. Table of Contents Introduction PART I Chapter I Nietzsche's Subject Chapter I1 Zarathustra and Free-Spirited Self-creation PART 11 Chapter 111 Rorty 's Nietzsche and Ironis t Redescription Chapter IV Foucault's Nietzsche and the Politics of Self-creation Conclusion A Note on the Notes Bibliography vii INTRODUCTION Nietzsche often likened people to woks of art. He thought that we have the pijtc.rtti;tl to create ourselves out of ourselves -- out of the historical contingencies from which we spring. Nietzsche's subject is a knot of causes, of drives, and of affects which has, as its highest achievement, the task of self-creation. This study aims at illuminating the richness of the tension in Nietzsche's descriptions of the subject as both a web of historical contingencies and as the potential creator of herself, Nietzsche's impact on contemporary accounts of the subject and self-creation can be seen in the description of the subject as self-creator suggested by Richard Rorty. His account of poetic self- creation is, we will see, deeply indebted to Nietzsche. Another of Nietzsche's inheritors, Michel Foucault, provides a compelling politicized alternative to Rorty's poetic account of self-creation. For Foucault, we shall also see, echoes Nietzsche in his description of a modem subject who is produced by the social fabric from which she springs. The conversation in which I will engage Nietzsche, Rorty, and Foucault is aimed, ultimately, at suggesting a response to the question: What would it be like to take up the project of self-creation? My concern in Part I of this thesis is to simply present a view of Nietzsche's account of the self and of self-creation.